Oil Spill in Washington County

Officials from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection are on the scene of a significant oil spill in Washington County.A spokesperson for the DEP says about one thousand gallons of oil leaked overnight from a parked tanker truck into the Pleasant River in Columbia Falls, just upstream from the fish hatchery.Crews are installing carbon filters at the hatchery to protect the intake water going into that facility. They’re also working to lay out boom to keep the oil from spreading.The DEP says the river is an important habitat for Atlantic Salmon. 130,000 smolts are in the process of hatching at this very moment. Hatchery employees are in the processs of adding carbon filters to equimpent in the river. That water is transferred to eggs inside the lab. Officials from U.S. Fish and Wildlife are also on their way to the scene.